Survey Results: The 3 Most Respectable Filipinos

After almost a month of gathering responses on this small survey, I came to a realization that indeed answering the simple question is quite a task. Among the friends that I surveyed through SMS, many complained to me how hard to answer the question. Some promised to get back to me but hasn't up to now. Some even asked me back: "Are there any?" as if I am dumb or something, or "Why?" and "What for?" as if I am making life hard for them.

Also, some responded with jokes. One respondent include "Kris Aquino and James Yap". One even includes "Hope Centeno". One responded with "Marcos, MacArthur and Rizal". A lot answered their own names. Some include their mothers.

There is one person who said that the most respectable are the soldiers, the OFWs and the teachers. Of course, I cannot include them as I am only asking for the 3 most respectable individuals. But if we think about it, especially the soldiers, those people could indeed be the most respectable groups yet least appreciated.

And among those who answered seriously, many answered only 1 or 2 names. In terms of counting and naming respectability, 3, it seems, is a hard number to reach. Many of the answers also are unique (about a third). Of course it would have been different had this been a bigger survey. Surely though, it shows how different we see respectability is and who among Pinoys deserved to be included.

There are also basically two groups of people I surveyed: Those who are politically involved and those who has nothing to do with politics. Among those who are involved in politics, the leading answers they gave include Padaca and Panlilio - both surprise winners in the previous elections and non-traditional politicians. Meanwhile, for those not involved in politics, the people often mentioned are Former President Cory Aquino, Chief Justice Reynato Puno, Former Senator Jovito Salonga, and Cardinals Rosales and Vidal. Among the politically inclined however, many also included Aquino, Salonga and Puno in their responses that is why those three are the leading names. I wonder what the results would be had I asked the poor, who forms the majority of our population, the same question.

In any case, based on the few responses so far (more than 40 respondents), the 3 most respectable Filipinos alive today are as follows:

1. Former President Corazon Aquino (18%)
2. Senate President Jovito Salonga (8%)
3. Chief Justice Reynato Puno (6%)

(Note: If I receive more responses to the survey question, I will post the corresponding set of results. However, we should keep in mind that those new responses could be affected by this initial result. Of course, we have to keep in mind too that this is not a scientific survey and the results therefore are easily arguable. However, regardless of the results, I think this survey has succeeded in getting everyone thinking within ourselves who the leaders of our country at present are and what qualities do we all look for in our leaders.)